wrist break in the swing

[Paraneva]

Re: wrist break in the swing

Keiko, this was interesting. Lets see if we can make a discussion from this!

There are a number of factors working at the impact of the club to the ball. Even if we assume that one makes a perfect "sweetspot" hit so that there are no additional vibrations or twists, there still are quite a number of things to consider. The clearly biggest movement at impact is the forward movement of the clubhead on its PATH. The PATH is here simply the virtual line (not always a direct line - more often a curve) drawn by the center of gravity of the clubhead into the air (and going through the center of the ball in this imaginary perfect hit). Unless the angle of the club is close to 0, the second biggest is the reverse spin caused by the (lifting) angle of the clubhead. The smaller factors are the vertical movement of the clubhead in relation to its PATH (which also increases or decreases the nominal angle of the club, more about this later), the horizontal movement of the clubhead in relation to its PATH (inside out or outside in typically causing slide or hook in bigger amounts) and the openess/closeness of the clubhead causing similar effects and also changing the nominal lifting angle of the club.

When you wrote "With driver, one should be hitting up on the ball, from low to high, which we call a positive angle of impact." you are describing an ascending PATH: the clubhead is going upwards at impact because the ball is forward from the lowest point of your swing or you have your forward shoulder higher than the other or the ground is uneven or ... This is the reason why big-hitters are able to use smaller angle drivers. If you can make the PATH to ascend by 15 degrees, you could use a 0 driver! But that would not give the ball a reverse spin so a driver of 8 to 10 together with an PATH ascending 5 degrees gives a better combination. Nothing good happens with the opposite circumstances.

Quite big part of the effective angle of the clubhead (nominal angle + all the altering factors) relative to the PATH is transformed into spinning of the ball. The bigger the effective angle, the more spinning results. The vertical movement of the clubhead in relation to its PATH may have a disastorous impact on the spin: If the clubhead is moving upwards at the impact (eg the PATH is not a direct ascending line but the ascending is accelerating or, in other words, the PATH is curving upwards) then you are creating a forward spin on the ball which (if big enough) may totally negate the reverse spin created by the angle of the club. This is why it is so often stressed that one should let the swing "go through" - if you stop your swing too early, you cannot help your club going upwards. You get similar results if you weight (body) is moving backwards at the impact: the swing is getting shorter. I think it is quite impossible to make the clubhead go downwards (in relation to its PATH) at the impact and so you cannot increase the reverse spin yourself. But you can ensure that the reverse spin is not weakened by letting the drive "go through" and by moving your weight forwards at the impact.

When you write “There has been much debate over whether the pro's actually do this and some have measured some pro's actually having a negative angle of impact.” you must be talking about whether the PATH is curving up or down relative to itself at the impact? A small curve upwards does not necessarily negate all the reverse spin: the bigger numbered you driver is, the more it allows upward curving. If the last part is true, then some pros have made the impossible possible – maybe with weight shift?

Further you wrote “coupled with teeing the ball high and hitting the ball with the top one third of the club face” where you describe the situation where the PATH is going through the lower half of the ball. That will cause at least additional reverse spin (and also some complicated vibrations) because the ball will cause the clubhead to turn its head up (and tail down) at the impact and thus increase the effective angle.

You also wrote “My ball for instance will take off and quickly get to it's highest point of flight then hang there for a long time” which sounds to me exactly the kind of trajectory caused by a decent reverse spin helping the ball to split the air and hang in the air. You are totally right in “if I were to hit down with driver, the ball would gradually gain height and probably stick or not roll much when it lands.” – too much reverse spin makes the ball to skyrocket and drop dead down. So in an optimal drive there is only a decent reverse spin in compibation with an ascending PATH helping the ball to take off and hang in the air. Plus the little other spin to make it draw and roll long on the fairway

I finish this time with the quite interesting (and complicated) movement happening at the same time as the impact: closing the hands (or letting the back hand roll over the leading hand). This will close the clubface, decrease the effective angle (weakening the reverse spin – I don’t know if it can even turn it to forward spin) and also cause sidewise spin on the ball, eg. hook. I have had this problem and I still have it. When well concentrated, I can avoid it by thinking about an open palm during the swing but when I lose concentration, the straight drives start to hook.

Anyone else watching the flight of the ball? You can ignore those hits that are near misses, nothing important can be deduced from those. But look carefully and see how the ball is flying when you have made a perfect "sweetspot" hit. A "sweetspot" hit does not yet quarantee a good drive, does it?

[keiko]

Re: wrist break in the swing

If I misspoke, apologies. I didn't mean to state there was no negative spin; my spin rate with driver is around 2,300 while those who don't have a positive angle of attack with driver are around 3,800 or more. The difference between the two is raw distance and roll. Even with lots of negative spin, the ball will actually roll a little or pop up after landing and roll a little. But with 50% less negative spin-which is accomplished by a +2 or +3 angle at impact-the ball travels farther in the air because of less aerodynamic drag coefficient(it cuts through the air versus being held back by the air- and when it lands, it has less backspin so it is able to defeat friction to some degree and skid or jump and roll.
The driver shot that has lots of negative spin, also has lots of friction because of it-both in the air and when it hits the ground. The negative spin to an excess is what causes the ball to hit, pop up and die.
Thanks for your contribution.

Keiko, this was interesting. Lets see if we can make a discussion from this!

There are a number of factors working at the impact of the club to the ball. Even if we assume that one makes a perfect "sweetspot" hit so that there are no additional vibrations or twists, there still are quite a number of things to consider. The clearly biggest movement at impact is the forward movement of the clubhead on its PATH. The PATH is here simply the virtual line (not always a direct line - more often a curve) drawn by the center of gravity of the clubhead into the air (and going through the center of the ball in this imaginary perfect hit). Unless the angle of the club is close to 0, the second biggest is the reverse spin caused by the (lifting) angle of the clubhead. The smaller factors are the vertical movement of the clubhead in relation to its PATH (which also increases or decreases the nominal angle of the club, more about this later), the horizontal movement of the clubhead in relation to its PATH (inside out or outside in typically causing slide or hook in bigger amounts) and the openess/closeness of the clubhead causing similar effects and also changing the nominal lifting angle of the club.

When you wrote "With driver, one should be hitting up on the ball, from low to high, which we call a positive angle of impact." you are describing an ascending PATH: the clubhead is going upwards at impact because the ball is forward from the lowest point of your swing or you have your forward shoulder higher than the other or the ground is uneven or ... This is the reason why big-hitters are able to use smaller angle drivers. If you can make the PATH to ascend by 15 degrees, you could use a 0 driver! But that would not give the ball a reverse spin so a driver of 8 to 10 together with an PATH ascending 5 degrees gives a better combination. Nothing good happens with the opposite circumstances.

Quite big part of the effective angle of the clubhead (nominal angle + all the altering factors) relative to the PATH is transformed into spinning of the ball. The bigger the effective angle, the more spinning results. The vertical movement of the clubhead in relation to its PATH may have a disastorous impact on the spin: If the clubhead is moving upwards at the impact (eg the PATH is not a direct ascending line but the ascending is accelerating or, in other words, the PATH is curving upwards) then you are creating a forward spin on the ball which (if big enough) may totally negate the reverse spin created by the angle of the club. This is why it is so often stressed that one should let the swing "go through" - if you stop your swing too early, you cannot help your club going upwards. You get similar results if you weight (body) is moving backwards at the impact: the swing is getting shorter. I think it is quite impossible to make the clubhead go downwards (in relation to its PATH) at the impact and so you cannot increase the reverse spin yourself. But you can ensure that the reverse spin is not weakened by letting the drive "go through" and by moving your weight forwards at the impact.

When you write “There has been much debate over whether the pro's actually do this and some have measured some pro's actually having a negative angle of impact.” you must be talking about whether the PATH is curving up or down relative to itself at the impact? A small curve upwards does not necessarily negate all the reverse spin: the bigger numbered you driver is, the more it allows upward curving. If the last part is true, then some pros have made the impossible possible – maybe with weight shift?

Further you wrote “coupled with teeing the ball high and hitting the ball with the top one third of the club face” where you describe the situation where the PATH is going through the lower half of the ball. That will cause at least additional reverse spin (and also some complicated vibrations) because the ball will cause the clubhead to turn its head up (and tail down) at the impact and thus increase the effective angle.

You also wrote “My ball for instance will take off and quickly get to it's highest point of flight then hang there for a long time” which sounds to me exactly the kind of trajectory caused by a decent reverse spin helping the ball to split the air and hang in the air. You are totally right in “if I were to hit down with driver, the ball would gradually gain height and probably stick or not roll much when it lands.” – too much reverse spin makes the ball to skyrocket and drop dead down. So in an optimal drive there is only a decent reverse spin in compibation with an ascending PATH helping the ball to take off and hang in the air. Plus the little other spin to make it draw and roll long on the fairway

I finish this time with the quite interesting (and complicated) movement happening at the same time as the impact: closing the hands (or letting the back hand roll over the leading hand). This will close the clubface, decrease the effective angle (weakening the reverse spin – I don’t know if it can even turn it to forward spin) and also cause sidewise spin on the ball, eg. hook. I have had this problem and I still have it. When well concentrated, I can avoid it by thinking about an open palm during the swing but when I lose concentration, the straight drives start to hook.

Anyone else watching the flight of the ball? You can ignore those hits that are near misses, nothing important can be deduced from those. But look carefully and see how the ball is flying when you have made a perfect "sweetspot" hit. A "sweetspot" hit does not yet quarantee a good drive, does it?

[Paraneva]

Re: wrist break in the swing

Sorry Keiko, I did not mean you misspoke !

It is just better to be really clear on the nüances for us mere mortals. My only measured driver backspins (in decent drives) were in range 1600 to 3000. Huge variance => I better learn to ... drive better. I believe that quite many of us are desperately trying to drive better (and longer) but can only see the details (called mistakes) and not the big picture or "don't see the forest because of the trees" as we say here. A decent (low enough) backspin is a really important factor! If you have a too high backspin (for a drive) even the slight mistakes that you make (towards hook or slice) are exaccelerated.

For a Pro it is easy and lucrative to focus on the correct swing and timing and so on (you can spend dozens of hours in improving these) but if you drives do not clearly improve while your swing is improving shouldn't you take a step back and reconsider. Similarly, it is easy and lucrative for a Proshop to sell more those drivers with better MOI or more sweetspots but if you drives do not clearly improve when your driver has a price tag of $500 you should ... take a step back and reconsider.

Backspin up to or over 10000 rpm is good for approach shots, especially if the hole is in the front of the green and you want to aim more to the middle BUT too high backspin destroys your drives. If you make a slight mistake (there are many different ways to make the mistakes that lead to similar results) in your drive (and believe me, there are no really totally perfect hits) your backspin will not disappear but is just turned partly to a big sidespin (hook or slice). And even if you make the perfect "sweetspot" hit, you only drive 220 without much roll.

Alas, assuming you are in normal physical condition (for somebody up to 50 ... 65 year old), do this to fix your drives: fix the ascend of your impact (yourself, with a friend, or with a Pro) and fit your driver (and the stiffness of your shaft) to your own swing and check that your GOOD drives have a decent backspin AND THEN try to learn how to do those GOOD drives more often. For the first part you either need to have clear sight or a clubfitter and for the latter you might need a Pro or a good friend again.

What I try to say is that you may have a "perfect" swing and a perfect drive but if the backspin you create with your driver & shaft are not OK you are lost.

Cheers!

PS. In this blog I use word backspin - earlier I spoke earlier about reverse spin as English is not my native language, apologies for the possible confusion

[keiko]

Re: wrist break in the swing

Many years ago, I decided not to trust various fitters who insisted that one must go up in loft not down. I did my research(when I was younger) to the point that I was getting obsessive. Finally, I decided to take the plunge and go to a lower lofted head-9* and a Stiff flex shaft. As a weightlifter for the past 25 years, I am muscular even at my age I still workout like crazy, I knew I could handle a stiffer flex.
After experimenting, I have been very happy with a 7* head on a 48" XXS shaft; my swing speed is 110-115 so I can often get a 290 carry and easily end up over 300 yards with roll.
I agree with you that one must get properly fitted and don't just take some fitter's advice at some outlet or mall store. Private fitters with launch monitors etc. are all over the place and when you find an honest one, he will do you proud(as we say here in the south).
I can't imagine playing golf in Finland; I am a spoiled Floridian and when the temp. gets to below 60 degrees in January, I am freezing. My favorite golf weather is 95 degrees.
Tell us about your golf courses in Finland, I think many would be very interested and we could make a side thread about your experiences.
Cheers to you.

Sorry Keiko, I did not mean you misspoke !

It is just better to be really clear on the nüances for us mere mortals. My only measured driver backspins (in decent drives) were in range 1600 to 3000. Huge variance => I better learn to ... drive better. I believe that quite many of us are desperately trying to drive better (and longer) but can only see the details (called mistakes) and not the big picture or "don't see the forest because of the trees" as we say here. A decent (low enough) backspin is a really important factor! If you have a too high backspin (for a drive) even the slight mistakes that you make (towards hook or slice) are exaccelerated.

For a Pro it is easy and lucrative to focus on the correct swing and timing and so on (you can spend dozens of hours in improving these) but if you drives do not clearly improve while your swing is improving shouldn't you take a step back and reconsider. Similarly, it is easy and lucrative for a Proshop to sell more those drivers with better MOI or more sweetspots but if you drives do not clearly improve when your driver has a price tag of $500 you should ... take a step back and reconsider.

Backspin up to or over 10000 rpm is good for approach shots, especially if the hole is in the front of the green and you want to aim more to the middle BUT too high backspin destroys your drives. If you make a slight mistake (there are many different ways to make the mistakes that lead to similar results) in your drive (and believe me, there are no really totally perfect hits) your backspin will not disappear but is just turned partly to a big sidespin (hook or slice). And even if you make the perfect "sweetspot" hit, you only drive 220 without much roll.

Alas, assuming you are in normal physical condition (for somebody up to 50 ... 65 year old), do this to fix your drives: fix the ascend of your impact (yourself, with a friend, or with a Pro) and fit your driver (and the stiffness of your shaft) to your own swing and check that your GOOD drives have a decent backspin AND THEN try to learn how to do those GOOD drives more often. For the first part you either need to have clear sight or a clubfitter and for the latter you might need a Pro or a good friend again.

What I try to say is that you may have a "perfect" swing and a perfect drive but if the backspin you create with your driver & shaft are not OK you are lost.

Cheers!

PS. In this blog I use word backspin - earlier I spoke earlier about reverse spin as English is not my native language, apologies for the possible confusion

[Paraneva]

Re: wrist break in the swing

Well [ I know advertising on such forums may pan me but ] you asked for it, Keiko!

As I said earlier the season up here is roughly 6-7 months, from mid April to October or November. I remember one winter a few years back when I played golf on all other months except January (well, the only golf round in February was in Florida ) but years are not brothers.

Last two winters have been pretty Sibirian and we have had 2 feet of snow all over the country and no open courses since early November. But now it is only a month until the new season that we wait like kids wait for Xmas.

One of the TOP-10 courses up here (also price-wise) is Linna golf, see http://golfpiste.com/linnagolf/?lang=en [ I don't play there regularly and I don't own any shares so this is a honest opinion ]

Unfortunately the enlarged course map looks like lot of snow so you better see the virtual course guide at http://www.livecaddie.com/media/popup/linna/index.html - my own favourite is hole 10, up-hill Par 5.

Please remember that we use meters here in Europe so you better add some 10% to all the distances you see.

Prices are high and season is short but where else could you play golf 24 hours a day during the mid summer days (and nights)? My own golf club arranges every June a mid-summer competition starting at 6 PM and ending around 24 PM at the lamb barbeque

You are all welcome to play in Finland ... in a month or so!

[BrianW]

Re: wrist break in the swing

I get best results by keeping my elbows as close together as possible throughout the swing and allowing my wrists to hinge and unhinge with absolutely no tension. It is also important to ensure the shoulders are not allowed to create power, they should remain passive as they will force the arms off plane if overused.

[keiko]

Re: wrist break in the swing

I bet there's a difference from playing at the beginning of the season and playing at the end of the season. How warm is it to begin, how warm is the highest temp, and how low is it at the end of season. You must have 3 or 4 different types of clothes to wear.
Here we wear short and dry fit shirts all year-well maybe slacks and a sweater when it gets below 60 a few days a year.
Linna looks beautiful, I like 16, 18, and the others look like narrow fairways. How much is a c (is that croner?)
I forgot about the 24 hour sunlight-how many months does that go on like that.

Well [ I know advertising on such forums may pan me but ] you asked for it, Keiko!

As I said earlier the season up here is roughly 6-7 months, from mid April to October or November. I remember one winter a few years back when I played golf on all other months except January (well, the only golf round in February was in Florida ) but years are not brothers.

Last two winters have been pretty Sibirian and we have had 2 feet of snow all over the country and no open courses since early November. But now it is only a month until the new season that we wait like kids wait for Xmas.

One of the TOP-10 courses up here (also price-wise) is Linna golf, see http://golfpiste.com/linnagolf/?lang=en [ I don't play there regularly and I don't own any shares so this is a honest opinion ]

Unfortunately the enlarged course map looks like lot of snow so you better see the virtual course guide at http://www.livecaddie.com/media/popup/linna/index.html - my own favourite is hole 10, up-hill Par 5.

Please remember that we use meters here in Europe so you better add some 10% to all the distances you see.

Prices are high and season is short but where else could you play golf 24 hours a day during the mid summer days (and nights)? My own golf club arranges every June a mid-summer competition starting at 6 PM and ending around 24 PM at the lamb barbeque

You are all welcome to play in Finland ... in a month or so!

[Paraneva]

Re: wrist break in the swing

I bet there's a difference from playing at the beginning of the season and playing at the end of the season. How warm is it to begin, how warm is the highest temp, and how low is it at the end of season. You must have 3 or 4 different types of clothes to wear.
Here we wear short and dry fit shirts all year-well maybe slacks and a sweater when it gets below 60 a few days a year.
Linna looks beautiful, I like 16, 18, and the others look like narrow fairways. How much is a c (is that croner?)
I forgot about the 24 hour sunlight-how many months does that go on like that.

Well, the season starts when the temperature is at round 40 °F (+5 °C) and the ground is not frozen anymore. High season (shorts and T shirts) lasts from early June to mid September with 70 °F (20 °C) or more, last summer we had a month of 85 °F (30 °C) and even close to 95 °F (35 °C) for a couple of days and that is already a bit too much for us.

In the fall the season goes on as long as it is not freezing - some snowing during the round is not a problem, it is just water. But if the greens are frozen they are like concrete, the grass will suffer and no spin helps. Clothing is not that difficult, it is just something you have to do anyhow. Winter is time for skiing and indoor exercises. In fact there are some who play golf even during the winter, see www.snowgolf.fi or www.ogs.fi / Talvikenttä.

Even thou the season is short, the courses are in really good condition during the summer: the climate does not burn the grass and you don’t need that much artificial irrigation. Neither have we problems with alligators and the bears are afraid of humans. A good list of the courses is (in Finnish) at www.golfpiste.com/kentat/?p=seuralista.

The northernmost golf club in the world is in Norway: varanger.com/index.php?lang=eng&id=28. The northernmost golf club in Finland is Levi www.laplandfinland.com/In_English/Experiences_in_Lapland/Four_Seasons/Autumn/Golf.iw3.

24 hours of real sunlight is available only on the Polar Circle and north from there: the more north you go, the longer it lasts (2½ months at the top of Finland). Here in southern the nights of mid-summer (last 2 weeks of June) are more like 3 to 4 hours of twilight.

We pay with € (euros) and cents (of €) in Finland (yesterday 1 € was 1.38 $US). National crones are used in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. For those really interested a good source for most of the facts is en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finland .

If you need more information, just ask. But this forum is for long drives so let’s get back to that again, OK?

[andyhiggins]

Re: wrist break in the swing

I get best results by keeping my elbows as close together as possible throughout the swing and allowing my wrists to hinge and unhinge with absolutely no tension. It is also important to ensure the shoulders are not allowed to create power, they should remain passive as they will force the arms off plane if overused.

I think I may be getting the hang of this now. But I still let my shoulders start the downswing and get across the line but a few good shots in a poor 83 (12 over) encouraged me to keep at the loose grip and full turn....

Andy

[keiko]

Re: wrist break in the swing

yep, left shoulder turns under chin, hands light grip pressure, arms like spaghetti-no tension, and complete your backswing.
Also, I am a proponent of keeping your left foot on the ground, don't let that heel come up or you will spoil every shot.

I think I may be getting the hang of this now. But I still let my shoulders start the downswing and get across the line but a few good shots in a poor 83 (12 over) encouraged me to keep at the loose grip and full turn....

Andy

[Paraneva]

Re: wrist break in the swing

What I am seeking for is understanding: why do we do what we do during the swing (to drive longer)?
Wouldn’t it be nice if the Pros would (try to) explain why they give some instruction, why something has to be done just this or that way. It would make the exercises that much more reasonable if they were not just repetitions of odd movements. And wouldn’t it be much easier to notice when your swing is deteriorating if you knew why the better swing is what it is.
On the other hand, isn’t this forum just a perfect place for building more understanding?
Some of the things are clear and simple consequences of physics or anatomical shortages in us humans:
I will try to start (including some of the instructions in Keiko’s last blog), please continue:
- we position the ball closer to the back foot with short irons to ensure that the clubhead has not yet reached the lowest point of the swing circle, e.g. to have a good contact with the ball (and a nice divot afterwards)
- and we position the ball close to the left foot with woods (or hybrids) on the fairway to ensure that the clubhead is at the lowest point of the swing circle at the impact, e.g. to have a good contact and not to top/duff
- but we position the ball (on tee) furthest forward with the driver to ensure that the clubhead has passed the lowest point of the swing circle and is already moving upwards, e.g. to have the positive impact angle
- we bend our back slightly forwards in the stance to prepare our spine to be the axis around which the perpendicular swing rotates in the swing place (please notice that at impact there is no bending left)
- we bend our knees slightly in the stance to make bending of the spine easier (improved balance, easier twist at pelvis) and also to be able to push power off the ground (*) but again, please notice that at impact there is no bending left: when he knees and our back are originally bent, our center of mass is lowered and we can push against the ground with force during the swing to push more energy to the clubhead by straightening our body and without taking off the ground )
- we keep our arms closely together (narrow triangle) to make it easier to have a circular swing around the center of our shoulders (the spine) but also because with a fixed amount of energy, you can rotate a narrower mass with a higher rotational speed (see the figure skaters, like Kiira Korpi spinning for full 22 seconds (starting at 2:44) at

please notice: the narrower her posture is, the higher the rotational speed)
- we make the left shoulder turn under chin to rotate with a circular swing around our spine
- we keep our forward arm as straight as possible during the whole swing for the same reason: together with the shaft it controls the radius of the clubhead in the swing and keeps the swing circular
- we have relaxed (no tension) arms because otherwise it is difficult to have totally relaxed wrists (if we were mechanically perfect machines, our arms could be steel rigid if our wrists were lubricated joints)
- we have only a light grip pressure in the hands to let the centrifugal forces to square/straighten the clubhead
- we keep our left foot on the ground to have a support point around which to rotate at the impact when the rotational axis has moved forward (at least when you are driving 250 or more) from your spine more to the line between your forward shoulder/forward hand/forward foot (theoretically this support point only needs to be a point for a perfect machine so some of the best big hitters are letting their left foot to rotate but that is maybe one of the last things from which you would start to extract the extra yards)
(*) A good stance is visualized at www.golf.com/golf/instruction/article/0,28136,1603929,00.html under topic Power from the Ground Up) and many of the above points are visualized nicely in the photos atwww.golfyc.com/golf-swing-analysis.html or at www.robsgolfworld.com/html/golf_tips_-_improve_your_swing.html

Please continue! And if I had something wrong, please correct !

[keiko]

Re: wrist break in the swing

Those of us who have played-in my case-for 55 years, have overcome most of the obstacles to swinging with optimal technique and hitting the ball flush most of the time and getting it to go where we want it to go. During this journey-golf is sometimes a lonely journey-we have come to understand: if we do certain things-we accomplish the items in sentence 1, if we fail to do certain things-we do not accomplish those items.
In an effort to help others avoid the problems we have gone through, we offer our advice in the form of certain axioms and sometimes downright "musts" so we can save others the pain we have endured.
If I tried to explain the scientific or even mechanical facts surrounding your last post and my axioms, I would be writing my next book and I have no desire to do that.......yet.

What I am seeking for is understanding: why do we do what we do during the swing (to drive longer)?
Wouldn’t it be nice if the Pros would (try to) explain why they give some instruction, why something has to be done just this or that way. It would make the exercises that much more reasonable if they were not just repetitions of odd movements. And wouldn’t it be much easier to notice when your swing is deteriorating if you knew why the better swing is what it is.
On the other hand, isn’t this forum just a perfect place for building more understanding?
Some of the things are clear and simple consequences of physics or anatomical shortages in us humans:
I will try to start (including some of the instructions in Keiko’s last blog), please continue:
- we position the ball closer to the back foot with short irons to ensure that the clubhead has not yet reached the lowest point of the swing circle, e.g. to have a good contact with the ball (and a nice divot afterwards)
- and we position the ball close to the left foot with woods (or hybrids) on the fairway to ensure that the clubhead is at the lowest point of the swing circle at the impact, e.g. to have a good contact and not to top/duff
- but we position the ball (on tee) furthest forward with the driver to ensure that the clubhead has passed the lowest point of the swing circle and is already moving upwards, e.g. to have the positive impact angle
- we bend our back slightly forwards in the stance to prepare our spine to be the axis around which the perpendicular swing rotates in the swing place (please notice that at impact there is no bending left)
- we bend our knees slightly in the stance to make bending of the spine easier (improved balance, easier twist at pelvis) and also to be able to push power off the ground (*) but again, please notice that at impact there is no bending left: when he knees and our back are originally bent, our center of mass is lowered and we can push against the ground with force during the swing to push more energy to the clubhead by straightening our body and without taking off the ground )
- we keep our arms closely together (narrow triangle) to make it easier to have a circular swing around the center of our shoulders (the spine) but also because with a fixed amount of energy, you can rotate a narrower mass with a higher rotational speed (see the figure skaters, like Kiira Korpi spinning for full 22 seconds (starting at 2:44) at

please notice: the narrower her posture is, the higher the rotational speed)
- we make the left shoulder turn under chin to rotate with a circular swing around our spine
- we keep our forward arm as straight as possible during the whole swing for the same reason: together with the shaft it controls the radius of the clubhead in the swing and keeps the swing circular
- we have relaxed (no tension) arms because otherwise it is difficult to have totally relaxed wrists (if we were mechanically perfect machines, our arms could be steel rigid if our wrists were lubricated joints)
- we have only a light grip pressure in the hands to let the centrifugal forces to square/straighten the clubhead
- we keep our left foot on the ground to have a support point around which to rotate at the impact when the rotational axis has moved forward (at least when you are driving 250 or more) from your spine more to the line between your forward shoulder/forward hand/forward foot (theoretically this support point only needs to be a point for a perfect machine so some of the best big hitters are letting their left foot to rotate but that is maybe one of the last things from which you would start to extract the extra yards)
(*) A good stance is visualized at www.golf.com/golf/instruction/article/0,28136,1603929,00.html under topic Power from the Ground Up) and many of the above points are visualized nicely in the photos atwww.golfyc.com/golf-swing-analysis.html or at www.robsgolfworld.com/html/golf_tips_-_improve_your_swing.html

Please continue! And if I had something wrong, please correct !

[andyhiggins]

Re: wrist break in the swing

Too true Keiko, I came here as my head was full of technique and details that I had soaked up over the last 2 years having lessons. I have been told you dont swing back far enough, not enough wrist break etc. Yet I have partners who do one or both of these things and they still hit the ball as far as I would wish to hit it. Played yesterday, hit one really good drive, the rest were hit with an open face started straight with no power and leaked a little right. Ended up hitting 3 wood and 2 iron as I am a lot better with these two clubs.

Andy